[Boatanchors] Storm Damage to Electronics

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

Rob,

Hmmm. One wonders if that description of the stuff stuffed inside the GAP 
Titan has any relationship to its nickname, the Crap Titan? (Chuckling!)

Credit where credit is due though -
Even though mine took a lightning hit deflected first by a tree, the 
lightning current did NOT blow the 80M capacitor! Nor did it damage the 
antenna in any other discernable way. Other then the vaporizing of the 8 
gauge braided ground wire and buried 8 foot Copper plated ground rod! The 
darn antenna still works! And before you ask, yes it works as well as it 
ever did!

I will give it credit for working quite well on 17M. I love that band! Do 
any of you antenna wizards have any practical antenna suggestions for 17M 
operation?

I can put up either a vertical or a dipole antenna. But what is going to 
work the best for me here in southeastern lower MI? For what it is worth, my 
QTH is 550 feet above sea level.

Thanks!


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rob Atkinson" <ranchorobbo at gmail.com>
To: "Boat Anchors List" <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2011 6:48 PM
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Storm Damage to Electronics


>I figured the same thing and instead of grounding my 65 foot tall 1/4
> w. 80 m. vertical I let it float above ground with a ball gap to
> ground.
>
> The Titan was no loss.   I pulled mine down 2 years ago and cut it
> open and pulled out yards of that 8X coax they use, stuffed inside the
> aluminum tubing with a dozen 180 degree hairpin bends in it almost
> crimped looking and held with cable ties.  That's their matching stubs
> stuffed into the tubing.  Once you see it you know why that antenna
> doesn't work very well.
>
> 73
>
> Rob
> K5UJ
>
> On Sat, Nov 5, 2011 at 2:52 PM, Duane Fischer, W8DBF <dfischer at usol.com> 
> wrote:
>> Hi Don,
>>
>> One thing is for certain. There are as many answers as there are 
>> questions
>> when it comes to 'ground' systems!
>>
>> I was told by one commercial antenna specialist who works on commercial
>> AM/FM radio station antenna arrays that the better the path to ground, 
>> the
>> greater the probability of a lightning strike. After all, lightning has a
>> habit of taking the shortest path to ground.
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